While the areas you are considering buying in are fast-growing, some neighborhoods may have crime rates you aren’t particularly keen on. Assess the security situation before you buy. Check out sites that assist during the house-hunting process to identify zip code crime rates, like https://www.mylocalcrime.com/ or https://www.crimereports.com/. These will help you, as a prospective buyer and resident, see and understand where crime is happening in various neighborhoods, as well as, how to engage with the local law enforcement .

Conduct night-time commuting. If you are local or visit often enough that you can spend some time driving the area, consider doing so both during the day and at night. This gives you an idea of the night-time activities at different days and times during the week.

Get neighborly. Even before you become an official neighbor, you can chat with those already residing there. Some communities already have groups on Facebook where people share everything from borrowing of tools, crime reporting, local events and more. This can be a great place to get guidance on the type of habitants and happenings are taking place therein. You may find that you must have a local address in order to join some groups. Reach out to the “Admin” of those groups and request temporary addition or links to local town council and other helpful resources. You can also check out neighborhoods on apps like Nextdoor where social networking takes place.

Post-purchase tips:

Alright, now you’re settled in and the neighborhood passed the initial screenings you likely put in place. Let’s discus some other options that exist to add additional security to your new home!

Inspect all of the home’s entry points and identify any outdated or malfunctioning locks. In fact, you may even opt to upgrade to electronic door locks, a way to replace keys or to add additional automation features, like remote locking or unlocking. Although most commonly found on cars, many cutting-edge security providers are offering electronic door locks for homes and businesses.

Join the neighborhood watch, or at least sit in on one introductory meeting. Here, you’ll get a sense of recent events, current issues and the caliber and resources of those involved to actually respond and resolve community concerns.

Say hello and greet your neighbors at their homes. Shaking hands with and getting names of people, asking a little about them, etc., not only tightens a community bond which leads to natural respect for one another but also deters crime as an otherwise-scheming neighbor is less likely to act when you know so much about them.

Consider wireless security – with rates starting at just $15.95/month. You can be safe knowing you’re the most secure home on the block! Not only does Fort Knox Home Security offer affordable Texas home security systems, but our U.L. Listing and Approved central monitoring station is one of the highest rated in the nation with an average response time of only 13-seconds! Fort Knox Home Security alarm monitoring is affordable, as well as reliable.